Kota Kinabalu:Some Japanese restaurants here are experiencing a slight drop in business with the public concerned about ingredient sources following news of Japan releasing treated radioactive water from a crippled power plant in Fukushima last month.
Fumi Izakaya Supervisor Ruhil said since the reports, more people have been asking where the restaurant’s ingredients are from before deciding to dine.
“Our salmon is from Norway. Some of our ingredients are from Japan, such as our scallops and oysters however we have checked with our suppliers and confirmed that it is safe to eat.
“However, business has been slow these past few weeks ever since they released the reports regarding the nuclear waste,” he told Daily Express.
He said the restaurant would usually be full and have a high turnover of customers. But lately only serve seven tables on average are occupied during lunch and dinner.
Azuma Sushi Restaurant also received the same inquiries on its ingredients from customers and experienced a slight drop, said its supervisor Rosal.
“Customer traffic did not go down that much, but it is noticeably slower ever since the nuclear waste reports circulated.
“We have printed out a list of our ingredients and where they are supplied from for our customers so we can just present it to them when they ask.
“Not all of our ingredients are from Japan, some are from China. Our salmon is from Norway,” she said.
According to the list, Azuma Sushi Restaurant also uses ingredients sourced from Hong Kong, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, Argentina, Chile and Malaysia.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an owner of a local omakase restaurant said his business was also affected by reports of Japan’s radioactive waste released into the ocean.
“It has not affected us in terms of supply price hike however, in terms of customers, there are quite a number who are worried about consuming seafood from Japan and this has slowed our business.
“It has even resulted in some cancelling their future reservations,” he said.
However, he clarified that although the business does obtain its ingredients from Japan, it does not source any from the Fukushima Prefecture.
“We source a majority of our seafood from Japan as the four seasons there provide us with a vast variety of fresh and high quality seafood for Japanese Cuisine.
“It is difficult for Omakase restaurants to divert from Japanese ingredients as Japan’s ocean offers unique umami flavours for its seafood.
“But for the time being, we only source our ingredients from Japan but nothing from Fukushima,” he said.
While there is an overall downward trend in KK’s Japanese restaurants, popular Japanese food outlet Sushi King seems to be spared from the issue.
According to Sushi King City Mall Branch Supervisor Mimi, business goes on as usual at the outlet although they do get inquiries on their ingredient sources as well.
“Most customers will ask where the salmon is from. We import it from Norway. Most of our frozen ingredients are from Norway. Only dry ingredients are from Japan.
“So far, business is okay,” she said.